I think the biggest factor in holding back the success of the Phaeton in North America is the badge. Volkswagen is just not seen as a true luxury brand in those markets. When people want to spend money on a luxury car they'll go for the big names.

I suppose the Phaeton will gain points with people who know that this is an excellent car and who want to be different and don't care much for badge snobbery, but other than that, it will always have a "brand image" disadvantage against the cars it is marketed against based solely on the little logo upfront that says "VW".

A shame since this really is a great car. If I remember correctly from an AMS test sometime ago it also did pretty well against the Lexus LS in comfort and was said to have the better interior too. Agility wasn't very good though, not that buyers actually care. If I drove an S-Class, Phaeton, A8 etc. I would place more emphasis on comfort, interior ambience etc.

VW could have made this car work. I would have brought over the short-wheelbase version and priced it like a E550/550i and the LWB version would have been priced about 5K more. This was a fabulous car, but they didn't really market it enough I don't think and there should have been more variants. I'd love to pic up one of these as they are quite possibly the best used luxury car bargain on the market. Totally unique and exclusive, practically ensures you won't see yourself coming and going. The catch is VW service. I can't seem them being all that happy to service them now since they aren't selling them anymore.

M

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The Phaeton limo may have been a major flop for Volkswagen but officials are keen to see the launch of a successor, especially in the U.S. where it could pose as a technical and environmental flagship for the carmaker. The original model was priced similarly to BMWs and Audis but it wore a humble VW badge, and there was nothing particularly exciting or innovative about the car to warrant its premium price tag, except for being ridiculously over-engineered. As for the new model, it could potentially feature VW’s advanced turbodiesel technology and utilize Audi’s new modular platform to create a true premium flagship.

The information comes from VW’s U.S. Chief Stefan Jacoby, who told reporters from Automotive News that if VW wants to be bigger in the U.S. it will have to offer a broader range of vehicles to meet the “needs and wants of a diverse American customer universe.” One of the vehicles near the top of Jacoby’s list is a new Phaeton. Just last month he told reporters at a news conference that it was a mistake to end Phaeton sales in North America.
Although he didn’t provide any solid details about the next-gen model, previous execs have hinted that it will arrive without many luxury features and only in the shorter wheelbase. The previous model sold for more than $70,000 and only managed 2,814 sales over the entire period it was on offer in the States.
VW’s strategy for the US also involves the introduction of a coupe-sedan style model called the Passat CC as well as a new model to sit between the Passat CC and the Phaeton. The Passat CC was unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show.
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Good news, she got her loyal buyers everywhere ...!

An underestimaed icon, that I'll consider over A6, any day ...!

Where did you hear that agility is not too good? I have read from a few different reviews that the Phaeton, if you ignore its badge, has pretty darn good handling.

I also don't agree with journalists that keep pounding on the Phaeton because it comes from the same car company that sells Jettas and Golfs. Mercedes-Benz sells the more "entry-level" A-Class and B-Class in some markets. You can get a Mercedes B200 in Canada starting at $30,000. The top VW Golf GTI and Jetta models may not be the most comparable class to the B200, but the point is they are in that price range too. No one is asking why buy an S-Class when MB also sell cars in the $30k range with GTIs and Jettas.